Recommendation 13

HM Government · verbatim extract Deferred

The Government believes that the Equality Act 2010 already provides a strong framework for protecting older people from discrimination in a variety of settings and indeed actively promotes positive initiatives, for example by allowing services and opportunities to be offered at discounted prices for those of pension age. We will however consider the experience and effectiveness of the Commissioner for Older people in Wales, including any evaluation, lessons learned or other evidence of impact and effectiveness. This will inform thinking in due course on any further action that might be taken in England, including the possible use of Older People’s Champions at local or regional levels. Where appropriate, the Government will liaise with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to ensure that any plans are complementary to its role, working towards shared and realistic objectives. The Committee’s report on this important topic was thought-provoking and we have considered its recommendations in relation to our ongoing project on ‘The Depiction of Older People in Ads’. We are pleased to respond to the Committee’s recommendation in paragraph 36 of the report and provide an update on this project. The UK Advertising Codes contain rules which require advertisers to prepare ads with a sense of responsibility, and which prohibit ads from causing serious or widespread offence. As per these rules, particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of protected characteristics, one of which is age. At the ASA we’re always keen to proactively understand whether we need to do more to protect consumers. In our new five-year strategy, AI-Assisted collective ad regulation , we committed to prioritise protecting vulnerable people, and to identify and develop our understanding of vulnerable groups. As you are aware, our project is considering to what extent, and how, certain depictions of older people in advertising can give rise to serious or widespread offence, or harm, and whether the ASA’s current approach in this area offers adequate protection to prevent any such harms. Since we last updated the Committee, in December 2024, we have continued to make good progress with the project: As well as completing the qualitative phase of our research, the quantitative phase of our fieldwork is now complete. The survey explored attitudes towards different portrayals of older people in advertising as well as looking at views towards depictions of older people in specific ads. This involved surveying over 4,000 respondents aged 16+ across the UK, to deliver a nationally representative sample. The large sample size will allow us to examine trends across different demographic groups, including looking at areas of intersectionality. We are now awaiting the finalised version of the research report which we aim to publish in Q2 2025. Any subsequent steps are ultimately contingent on the conclusions of the research report. Once the research report is finalised, we would be delighted to present our findings to the Committee. Please note that, while the Committee’s report quotes the ASA as saying “that researching harmful gender stereotypes was “easier” because they “invoke a binary” in that they are either about gender or not”, the transcript of Q202 correctly records that the binary in question was the presence or absence of people sharing a characteristic. Thank you for the opportunity to provide both written and oral evidence as part of the Committee’s inquiry into ageism and the rights of older people. TV and radio services play an important role in society and have the ability to perpetuate both negative and positive imagery and language in relation to different demographic groups including older people. We noted with interest the report which you published in February 2025 and wanted to share some reflections on the recommendations for Ofcom.